Category

Reviews

  • 08.07.12
    The Lorax review Reviews, Trailers | Comments Off
    THE LORAX Directed by Chris Renaud and Kyla Balda. Featuring Danny DeVito, Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Ed Helms, Betty White. 86 mins. Rating: Two/Five In cinemas July 27 YOU’LL SAY I’M OLD-FASHIONED AND LIVE IN THE PAST, BUT SOMETIMES I THINK PROGRESS PROGRESSES TOO FAST In a land of wonder and whimsy, where every child should go, Dr.Seuss set a fable, one you must know. Of a Lorax and a Once-ler and the truffula trees; a stunning tale about the environment and greed. But Hollywood’s spin has demolished the sweet universe, even eschewing Seuss’ singular verse. So in an M. Night Shyamalan-worthy ironic twist, a rapacious ...
  • 05.05.12
    BEING ELMO: Elmo & Kevin Clash love you Reviews, Trailers | Comments Off
    BEING ELMO Directed by Constance Marks. Starring Elmo, Kevin Clash, Whoopi Goldberg, Frank Oz, Rosie O’Donnell, Cheryl Henson. 76 mins. Rating: Three and a half/Five In cinemas now SWEET, UPLIFIFTING DOC ABOUT THE CREATOR OF ELMO IS A WARM LABOUR OF LOVE As you know, Elmo loves you. But you might not know that Kevin Clash loves you too. The creator of Elmo, Clash is soft-spoken, mild-mannered, extremely kind and deeply talented – and is the probably most famous person you’ve never heard of. Despite Elmo being an international phenomenon (do doo de do do), Clash remained an unrecognizable face, happy just to be the ...
  • 05.05.12
    AVENGERS ASSEMBLE: Joss Whedon SMASH Reviews, Trailers | Comments Off
    AVENGERS ASSEMBLE Directed by Joss Whedon. Starring Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, Tom Hiddleston, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner, Clark Gregg, Cobie Smulders, Samule L. Jackson. 142 mins. Rating: Five/Five In cinemas now AFTER YEARS OF SUPERHERO FILM FOREPLAY, THE AVENGERS ASSEMBLE FOR A BRILLIANT CLIMAX The Avengers, comic books, Glee – what do they all have in common? Misfits, geeks, villains, one-liners – and Joss Whedon. The Cult King of the Cool Uncool, the writer and director of Avengers Assemble combines his talent for oddball characters, razor-sharp wit and fantastical action to a superhero film that is more fun than it ...
  • 05.05.12
    The first rule about CABIN IN THE WOODS… Reviews, Trailers | Comments Off
    THE CABIN IN THE WOODS Directed by Joss Whedon. Starring Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, Franz Kenz, Jesse Williams, Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford. 95 mins. Rating: Four/Five In cinemas now HILARIOUS, SMART AND ORIGINAL FRIGH FLICK BRILLAINTLY UNDOES ALL TRADITIONAL HORROR TROPES There are many reasons to think The Cabin in the Woods is a transformative horror film. It’s funny as hell, smart as sin and if the devil’s in the details, this film is overrun with brilliantly burning demons. But perhaps the most impressive feat achieved by Cabin is the almost never-experienced sense of community that’s being shared by both critics and audiences ...
  • 05.05.12
    BREATHING: A life spent treading water Reviews, Trailers | Comments Off
    BREATHING Directed by Karl Markovics. Starring Thomas Schubert, Karin Lischka, Gerhard Liebmann, Georg Friedrich, Stefan Matousch. 90 mins. Rating: Four/Five In cinemas April 20 STILL AND SLOW-MOVING PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG PAROLEE STRUGGLING WITH LIFE IN FRONT OF BARS A slow-burning, still and affecting portrait of a young man struggling to find purpose in a life defined by one action, Karl Markovics’ directorial debut is often devastatingly emotive. Thomas Schubert plays Roman, a sullen inmate at a juvenile facility who is ostracized by his peers due to a combination of fear and disgust. When he’s encouraged to take a job in a morgue to impress ...
  • 05.05.12
    LOCKOUT: And stay out Reviews, Trailers | Comments Off
    OCKOUT Directed by James Mather and Stephen St.Leger. Starring Guy Pearce, Maggice Grace, Joe Gilgun, Peter Stormare. 95 mins. Rating: One and a half/Five In cinemas April 20 ABSURDLY STUPID AND DERIVATIVE SCI-FI ACTION FLICK IS A CINEMATIC BLACK HOLE Silly season seems to inspire a cinematic Stockholm Syndrome in critics. The deluge of films apparently released purely to assault our senses, insult our intelligence and push our patience to the limit can eventually induce a deluded, desperate desire to find anything positive to cling onto, in order to retain some sense of sanity and faith in the world. And so awful films are declared ...
  • 05.05.12
    ALBERT NOBBS: All façade, no film Reviews, Trailers | Comments Off
    ALBERT NOBBS Directed by Rodrigo Garcia. Starring Glenn Close, Janet McTeer, Mia Wasikowska, Aaron Johnson, Brendan Gleeson, Maria Doyle Kennedy. 113 mins. Rating: Two/Five In cinemas April 27 JANET MCTEER BREATHES LIFE INTO AN OTHERWISE LIFELESS FILM FAÇADE A film that’s been thirty years in the making, Glenn Close originally starred in the stage adaptation of George Moore’s short story in 1982. But despite three decades of passion driving the project, Albert Nobbs – like its titular character - remains an undiscovered cipher, corseted by its fear to explore its real potential. Instead it clumsily tramples over the award-baiting bases of period costumes, cross-dressing and a ...
  • 05.05.12
    DAMSELS IN DISTRESS: A filmmaker in trouble Reviews, Trailers | Comments Off
    DAMSELS IN DISTRESS Directed by Whit Stillman. Starring Greta Gerwig, Analeigh Tipton, Carrie MacLemore, Aubrey Plaza, Adam Brody. 99 mins. Rating: Two and a half/Five In cinemas April 27 GRETA GERWIG’S INNOCENCE SHINES IN QUIRKY BUT INSUBSTANTIAL CAMPUS COMEDY Crouching yuppie, hidden WASP, director Whit Stillman is an odd creature. During his twenty-two year career, he has only come out of hibernation for four films, the last three providing sharply written observations about the urban haute bourgeoisies as they experience stylized Jane Austen-like comedies of manners. And, as a Harvard graduate and godson to the sociologist who coined the term ‘WASP’, he has a wealth ...
  • 05.05.12
    LE HAVRE: Simple things in life Reviews, Trailers | Comments Off
    LE HAVRE Directed by Aki Kaurismäki. Starring André Wilms, Blondin Miguel, Kati Outinen, Jean-Pierre Darroussin. 93 mins. Rating: Three and a half/Five In cinemas April 6 SLIGHT BUT CHARMINGLY IDEALISTIC TALE OF COMMUNITY TRIUMPHING OVER ADVERSITY A master of quirky, deadpan features, Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki’s (La Vie de Bohème, The Man Without a Past) latest film combines his dry with an unrelenting empathy with the downtrodden to tell a slight but quirky and utterly charming tale of people who never hesitate to do the right thing. Set in the free titular French port town, Le Havre’s hero Marcel Marx (André Wilms) is an aging shoe-shine ...
  • 05.05.12
    TINY FURNITURE: #FirstWorldProblems Reviews, Trailers | Comments Off
    TINY FURNITURE Directed by Lena Dunham. Starring Lena Dunham, Jemima Kirke, Laurie Simmons, Grace Dunham. 98 mins. Rating: Three and a half/Five In cinemas now SHARPLY WRITTEN BUT NARROW COMING-OF-AGE COMEDY IS A SAD PORTRAYAL OF A LOST GENERATION We can only pray that future historians don’t look back on Tiny Furniture to understand todays 20-somethings. For this low-budget, mumblecore coming-of-age comedy about hipsters in New York puts all of the hideously indulgent, obnoxious and self-involved traits of this generation on painful display. This is a world where romantic interests are famous for being Youtube sensations called ‘The Nietzschean Cowboy’ and characters respond to meeting ...